The $240 million Pinecrest project lands another big investment

The Pinecrest mixed-use project will bring restaurants, retailers, offices and apartments to the Harvard Road-I-271 interchange.

Pinecrest, the open-air, mixed-use realty development rising in Orange, has secured $48.9 million in financing, Dallas-based Preston Hollow Capital announced in a news release on Tuesday, April 11.

Preston Hollow, an independent specialty finance company with access to family offices and institutional investors, said it had closed the investment for the retail, residential and entertainment district under construction at Harvard Road near I-271.

Ramiro Albarran, Preston Capital's head of operations, said in the release his firm was able to generate the investment in a short period of time, although he did not say how long it took. He credited the capabilities of his own team and "commitment and cooperation" from Cleveland-based Fairmount Properties with getting the deal done. Fairmount, a real estate developer, is producing the $240 million project in a joint venture with the Cleveland-based DiGeronimo family and others.

The latest addition to the project's capital stack was complex and significant, said Adam Fishman, a Fairmount principal, in the release. The Preston Hollow investment is "critical" he wrote, to completing the live/work/play type of project.

Pinecrest is scheduled to open in spring 2018.

The mixed-use development will consist of 400,000 square feet of retail space, ranging from Whole Foods to apparel retailer Vineyard Vines and multiple restaurants, 150,000 square feet of office space and 87 luxury apartments. It is arranged in a series of low-rise buildings resembling a classic downtown.